How to Grow a Small Vegetable Garden in Maine

Asparagus could be your first harvest from your Maine vegetable garden.

A small vegetable garden can be enough to fill your summer with fresh vegetables. Choose vegetables that do well in Maine and need minimal space to thrive for a successful garden. Pay attention to Maine's climate by not planting too early and by choosing the right varieties of vegetables. Gardeners in northern Maine should focus on early harvest varieties of warm-season vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers. In southern Maine, mid-season varieties of these vegetables should grow well. Vegetables that produce a high yield for their space, like cherry tomatoes and green beans, are also good choices for the small vegetable garden.

Things You'll Need

• Composted manure
• Soil thermometer
• Tomato stakes

Instructions

1. Use composted manure in your vegetable garden. Compost that reaches temperatures of 140 degrees Fahrenheit reduces the chance of adding bacteria to your vegetable garden. Avoid using cat, dog or pig manure in either compost or gardens, as pathogens are more likely to infect your garden from these manures.

2. Use a soil thermometer to test your garden's soil temperature before planting seeds. When soil temperature gets to 45 degrees Fahrenheit for three days in a row, you can begin planting cool weather vegetables like broccoli, peas, lettuce and carrots.

3. Plant tomatoes and stake or cage them to keep the quality and yield high. Tomatoes are an ideal addition to a small vegetable garden space. Keeping them staked and upright optimizes the space you have. Smaller varieties suitable for a small vegetable garden that grow well in Maine include Sun Gold, Juliet and Sweet Million.

4. Plant beans successively throughout the growing season to ensure a consistent supply and an efficient use of space. Pole bean varieties that do well in Maine include Blue Lake strains and Scarlet Runner, while green snap beans suitable for Maine include Provider, Jade and Concessa.

5. Irrigate with water safe enough to drink, particularly within a month of when you plan to harvest the vegetables. Using rain water or other non-potable water should be done only at the roots to keep it off of the vegetables.

6. Mulch around all plants to help the soil retain moisture and to control weeds. Use straw, wood chips or newspaper layers. Keep removing weeds that emerge throughout the summer so they do not take over. Remove weeds from the garden area so they do not reroot.

References

• University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Vegetable Varieties for Maine Gardens
• University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Guidelines for Using Manure on Vegetable Gardens
• Cooperative Extension: Gardening & Horticulture Maine Home Garden News — June, 2010
• Cooperative Extension: Gardening & Horticulture Maine Home Garden News — May, 2010